Yen weakens against euro on BOJ stimulus bets; pound strengthens

Britain’s currency strengthened against all but one of its major peers. The cost of a home increased 0.6 percent from September, when it fell 0.4 percent, the Nationwide Building Society said in an e-mailed statement today.

The economy will stagnate this year and expand 1.4 percent in 2013, the Confederation of British Industry said in a report published in London today. In August, it predicted a 0.3 percent contraction and a 1.3 percent expansion respectively.

Sterling added 0.2 percent to $1.6160, after touching $1.6175, the highest since Oct. 17. It strengthened for a second day against the euro, gaining 0.2 percent to 80.22 pence.

The U.S. currency pared a decline against the euro as economists said as American report today will show manufacturing growth slowed in October. The impact of Hurricane Sandy on U.S. gross domestic product is still being gauged with some estimates that it caused as much as $50 billion of damage.

‘Growth Concerns’

“The bias is towards a slightly firmer dollar,” said Steven Barrow, head of group-of-10 research at Standard Bank Plc in London. “Growth concerns are first and foremost, more so in the euro zone, and that’s not withstanding we’re trying to work out how much the storm will cost GDP data in the U.S.”

Data today may show manufacturing in the U.S. expanded at a slower pace in October. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index was little changed at 51 from 51.5 in September, according to the median estimate of 88 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.

The dollar has risen 0.2 percent in the past month against nine developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The yen posted the biggest drop in the period, falling 2.6 percent, and the euro gained 0.9 percent.

The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six U.S. trading partners, rose less than 0.1 percent to 79.951.

The JPMorgan G7 Volatility Index, calculated based on premiums on currency options, was at 7.53 percent after touching 7.46 percent yesterday, the lowest since October 2007.